1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a stent. More specifically, the present invention relates to a stent comprising a stent body which is in particular used for expanding narrowed hollow vessels.
2. Background Information
Different types of stents are known from the prior art. These stents form a vascular prosthesis made from a physically compatible material. Stents are in general used for expanding hollow vessels, such as blood vessels or body orifices, and for keeping the vessels or orifices in an expanded state. To this end, the stent is normally positioned in its non-expanded state within a patient's body inside a narrowed hollow vessel and is then expanded by suitable means, for instance a balloon catheter. The stent body normally consists of a web structure, which comprises a plurality of neighboring cells, each cell being defined by webs. During expansion the individual web portions of the stent are deformed, so that the portions permanently remain in the expanded form.
The problem of restenosis often arises in such expanded hollow vessels. After some time the portion of the hollow vessel which has been expanded by the stent is narrowed again. Such a restenosis may, inter alia, be caused by the inherent stiffness of the stent. As schematically shown in FIG. 6, the hollow vessel 10 is stiffened by the stent 1'. Strong irritations R of the vessel wall which result in a restenosis of the hollow vessel can in particular be observed on the two end portions of the stent due to the inherent stiffness of the stent body 2'.
In view of the above, there exists a need for a stent which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.